The CFA Analytical Ultracentrifuge Architecture

As part of the Open AUC Project, the CFA is the next generation of analytical ultracentrifuge. The design philosophy of the CFA, which is to encourage hardware and software innovation, has been published. However, the hardware and software that allow and encourage future development have not been described previously. Presented here is the CFA hardware and software architecture and the rationale for how this architecture was developed. Overall, both the hardware and software architecture is modular, allowing for updates and additions over time without the need for wholesale redevelopment. The common features needed by optical systems are contained in “stacks” of electronics for synchronizing the sources and detectors to the spinning rotor. Separate computer programs operate the stacks, the motion control, the centrifuge hardware, the experiment protocol, and each optical system. These programs communicate with one another to execute functions and to provide data and status information. Each program has a database associated with it to provide nonvolatile storage and inter-process communications. While the current implementation of the CFA uses one central computer to coordinate and operate all of the systems, the modular design includes provisions for using multiple computers should that be needed for a particular optical system.